On
the nose
– Fruit cake and ginger biscuit. (Fragrances
can also be deceptive...)

On
the tongue
– A genuine surprise. Light bodied, vividly hopped, complex, dynamic and really rather
wonderful. (Taste
never lies.)

On
the subject
– Well, I think you'd better just read on for this one...

On
the market
– Considering Shepherd Neame's usual coverage, and considering the
time of year, I'd say just close your eyes, make a wish, and it will
be there.

On the whole
– 8.5/10

Full
Review

Well,
I was steadfastly determined not
to review any 'Christmas' beers whatsoever this year until those
insolent scoundrels at Shepherd Neame forced me into a corner
by sending me a free one.

Don't
you just hate it when that happens?

The
simple reason why I'd (briefly) intended to avoid so-called festive
beers is because of the quite baffling effect 'Yuletide' seems to
have on the entire brewing industry. By and large, breweries tend to
use this time of year as an opportunity to toss away the tremendous
levels of respect which they've carefully generated throughout the
previous 11 months by handing over responsibility for their Christmas
campaign to the nearest newborn gibbon.

As
an inevitable result of this handover, the end of year market becomes
flooded with all manner of daftly-named, garishly-labelled bottles,
most of which are filled with beers that the head brewers (who have also been temporarily replaced by infant gibbons) know will
hardly be consumed after December 25th, so they really
ought not to be the finest ales their company will ever produce.

This,
of course, is a very cynical view and not at all an accurate
representation of what truly goes on.

Much!

Whatever
the realities, I just tend not to get all that excited about the
beers which show up at this time of year. So it was with an air of
quiet suspicion that I cracked the lid on today's beer.

Very
shortly afterwards, however, my spirits began to rise.

When
I say 'rise', I mean really quite significantly, and I began to
believe that the suspicions I've recently been harbouring about
'Britain's Oldest Brewery' might actually be correct.

In
short, I think something's happening at Shepherd Neame.

I
think changes, subtle at first but increasingly evident
lately, have been taking place. And if this beer alone is anything to
go by – I'd say those changes are enormously positive ones.

This
brewery's aforementioned claim to be 'Britain's Oldest' is one
for the lawyers and historians to quibble over, but there's little
doubt that these guys have been around for a heck of a long time, and
they've been based all along in the very heart of the UK's very own
'Hop Mecca', more commonly known as Kent.

Tradition,
then, is the byword here. And there's little doubt that Shepherd
Neame continue to brew some of the most traditional feeling English
ales around.

But
I'll say it again, I reckon something's been happening at this
brewery.

Some
of their recent releases have had a markedly different feel to
them. Their 'Double Stout' and 'India Pale Ale' have a
very nice 'retro chic' look to them, and by all accounts they taste a
lot more 'exciting' and 'interesting' than plenty of recent offerings
from all the other big name firms.

This
is great news this brewery, as I firmly believe the best chance the
big players have of maintaining their dominant market position is to
wake up – and fast – to what's been going on lately
outside their castle walls.

But
it's also great news for us, because brews like Christmas
Ale are heralding some significant new levels of innovation and
creativity, whilst also keeping the ghosts of Xmas beers past
firmly very firmly at bay.

I
kid you not, today's beer makes for an unspeakably gratifying
experience. It's robust, but it's equally zesty and packed with
vitality. It's bold, but it's equally delicate and playful. It's big,
but it ain't at all overbearing – and where they hiding all 7.0% of
that ABV is anyone's guess.

Lightly
toasted nut and granary loaf malts stand firmly but gracefully at the
base, holding aloft a dynamic swirling mass of crisp citrus,
deliciously nuanced herbs, a ton of fruity twangs from the likes of
apricot and pear – and a finely woven tapestry of mild spice which
contains absolutely none of that bullish intensity which can
needlessly ruin (for me at least) so many Christmas themed
brews. These are beers, after all – not curries!

'Faversham's
finest' are quite simply rewriting the Yuletide rules, and I couldn't
be happier about it. There's no 'comedy' festive title here, the name
couldn't possibly be less
gimmicky. There's no whacky recipe mindful of its own very short
shelf-life, just delicious well-balanced beer that could be enjoyed
all year round. Perhaps most significantly, this is a beer that will
(very cleverly) appeal to drinkers on both sides of the evolutionary
divide.

The
gibbons are back in the zoo.

Shepherd
Neame's usual head brewer is definitely back in the building – with
a head crammed full of fresh and exciting ideas.

About Me

Here lies an insight into the dark, murky real life of a British actor. Rants on various themes, musings from within the weird world of showbiz, and helpful directions for those in search of the finest beers on Earth.